The invention relates to protective padding products and, more specifically, to a four-sided protection pad for a fireplace hearth.
Fireplaces are familiar structures in modern homes Popular construction techniques erect a rectangular-shaped hearth which extends from the floor to the lower edge of the firebox of the fireplace. The hearth also projects from the front edge of the fireplace out into the room in which the fireplace is located. The resultant hearth is generally between 10 and 18 inches high and projects forwardly of the fireplace generally between 10 and 24 inches.
Such hearths are usually constructed of masonry or have an outer exterior surface of masonry. Due to the stone or masonry outer contact surface and the projection of the hearth into a room, the unprotected hearth presents a danger of personal injury to those who may come into forceful contact with the hearth. This danger is particularly severe in the instance of infants and toddlers whose lack of coordination and frequency of falling increase the likelihood of their forceful contact with a hearth.
The present invention provides an inexpensive, adaptable, easy to assemble, and effective means for covering a fireplace hearth with a padded material so as to limit or prevent personal injury that might otherwise occur from forceful bodily contact with a unprotected hearth.